I have found a couple of really interesting websites for African American Research.
Sankofa-gen Wiki
http://sankofagen.pbworks.com/w/page/14230533/FrontPage
This one has information about U.S.A. antebellum plantations, farms, factories, manors, etc. that used African slave labor.
South Carolina Plantations
http://south-carolina-plantations.com/
Information about South Carolina plantations.
Slave Archival Database
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ilissdsa/text_files/database_intro2.htm
You can list your slave ancestors to honor them and preserve their history.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
A Break through ?
In February, a lady from LA, called me asking about the Dottery Family. I had some information she didn't have but she had some interesting information that I didn't have. She is descended from William M Jordan and Minnie Lee Dottery through their son, James.
I didn't know what had happened to Minnie Lee. Margo told me that Minnie Lee had lived with her parents in LA and eventually went to a nursing home when she got mad at them. She was buried in Palula (Kalola)?, LA. and that she had a son, J.G. Hope.
I didn't follow up on this, other than to look for census records.
Now someone else has called about this same family. Debbie did follow up on some of this information. She talked to the funeral home and found out that Minnie Lee's death certificate lists her mother as "Jane Teer". Despite having been married to someone named Goodman, her tombstone reads Minnie Lee Jordan.
She has also told me that a baby named Mary Teer is buried at the foot of Chester Evans Grave in Ebenezer Cemetery. I'm not sure what the significance of this is as Chester is quite a ways from any Teers on the genealogy chart.
1. I need to get Minnie Lee's death certificate from LA.
2. Who is J.G. Hope? Is this an indication that Minnie Lee was married to a man named Hope before Goodman? Maybe this is why I couldn't find a marriage for her and Goodman. This means another trip to the library to check the MS marriage records.
I didn't know what had happened to Minnie Lee. Margo told me that Minnie Lee had lived with her parents in LA and eventually went to a nursing home when she got mad at them. She was buried in Palula (Kalola)?, LA. and that she had a son, J.G. Hope.
I didn't follow up on this, other than to look for census records.
Now someone else has called about this same family. Debbie did follow up on some of this information. She talked to the funeral home and found out that Minnie Lee's death certificate lists her mother as "Jane Teer". Despite having been married to someone named Goodman, her tombstone reads Minnie Lee Jordan.
She has also told me that a baby named Mary Teer is buried at the foot of Chester Evans Grave in Ebenezer Cemetery. I'm not sure what the significance of this is as Chester is quite a ways from any Teers on the genealogy chart.
1. I need to get Minnie Lee's death certificate from LA.
2. Who is J.G. Hope? Is this an indication that Minnie Lee was married to a man named Hope before Goodman? Maybe this is why I couldn't find a marriage for her and Goodman. This means another trip to the library to check the MS marriage records.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
National Archives in Fort Worth
I've made the trip to the National Archives in Fort Worth many times. Sometimes I am disappointed and other times wildly successful. Even the staff was amused the day I found the McCarley Indian file. I couldn't help but dance at the copier as I copied 123 pages. It was a file with pages of wonderful things, like original signatures, a marriage certificate for which I had searched for over 20 years, and a death affidavit from before death certificates. It was a gold mine.
They have moved. The National Archives at Fort Worth opened the Montgomery Plaza research center on February 28th. Their Facebook page has lots of information about the records stored at the archives. They have even started promoting the 1940 census that will be released on April 2nd, 2012. My mother wasn't on the 1930 census but she should be on the 1940 at about 9 or 10 years old.
In 2002, the National Archives opened at just after midnight, early in the morning on the day the census records were released. In 2012, I might just join the party.
Check them out at:
http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesfortworth
They have moved. The National Archives at Fort Worth opened the Montgomery Plaza research center on February 28th. Their Facebook page has lots of information about the records stored at the archives. They have even started promoting the 1940 census that will be released on April 2nd, 2012. My mother wasn't on the 1930 census but she should be on the 1940 at about 9 or 10 years old.
In 2002, the National Archives opened at just after midnight, early in the morning on the day the census records were released. In 2012, I might just join the party.
Check them out at:
http://www.facebook.com/nationalarchivesfortworth
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
New information from the census
In my last post, I mentioned finding my Grandmother (Gladys) in the 1920 census. Her family was living next door to her stepfather's parents in Cotton County, OK. I knew that her mother and stepfather divorced after the 1920 census but that she remained close to him and even received letters from him just before and after her marriage at age 15. I became curious about her stepfather, James W. Ivey. What happened to him after the divorce? I had found a school record for my Grandmother that showed him living with them after the divorce, but I didn't know anything else about him. I still haven't found his death records, but I decided to find him in the 1930 census.
When the 1930 census records were released, I searched for my Grandparents. My mother was born in 1930 but she was not on the census records. I did find her parents, Ocie (Thomas Osa)and Gladys (Sample) McCarley. So as I did this new search, I wasn't expecting what I found. James W. Ivey was living with his brother, and parents in Stephens County. Imagine my surprise when the next door neighbor was Cid (Sidney) and Mattie McCarley, my great grandparents with 3 of their boys, Floyd, Wilbern, and Carl. AND the next family was Ocie and Gladys McCarley. In 2002, when I first found Ocie and Gladys McCarley in the 1930 census, I didn't know that the Ivey family in the next household was my Grandmother's stepfather.
When the 1930 census records were released, I searched for my Grandparents. My mother was born in 1930 but she was not on the census records. I did find her parents, Ocie (Thomas Osa)and Gladys (Sample) McCarley. So as I did this new search, I wasn't expecting what I found. James W. Ivey was living with his brother, and parents in Stephens County. Imagine my surprise when the next door neighbor was Cid (Sidney) and Mattie McCarley, my great grandparents with 3 of their boys, Floyd, Wilbern, and Carl. AND the next family was Ocie and Gladys McCarley. In 2002, when I first found Ocie and Gladys McCarley in the 1930 census, I didn't know that the Ivey family in the next household was my Grandmother's stepfather.
Finding the hidden in the census
Tonight I did a program for the Lancaster Genealogical Society on ancestry.com. In getting ready for the program, I recreated some searches to make sure that they illustrated the techniques I was going to demonstrate.
I could not find my grandmother (Gladys Mamie Sample) on the 1920 census. She told me that she moved to Comanche County, OK when she was one year old and she lived there until she married my grandfather. I had even searched the census microfilm for Comanche County page by page looking for her at one point.
But things have changed. You can do searches with ancestry that cannot be done otherwise. The search box on the 1920 census (and all of the other census years) allows you to search by first names without the last names. This was important in this case because my great grandmother had been married at least 4 times and I wasn't sure that I had all of her married names. My grandmother was about 5 years old in 1920, so I put her first name and age 5 with a +/- 2 years and her mother's first name, Sarah in the appropriate search boxes, then I limited it to Oklahoma. The search did not bring me anyone that seemed right. Sarah's name was Sarah Violet and a few records had her name as Violet so I tried the same search with Violet as the mother's name.
EUREKA! That search brought back Gladys M Ivey, age 5 with a mother, Violet Ivey, and father, James W. Ivey. I knew that my Grandmother considered James Ivey, her only father, even though he and her mother divorced. Why didn't I find them before? I didn't know when I first did this search when Sarah Violet was married to Ivey and they were not in Comanche County. They were in Cotton County, OK. My Grandmother didn't know that when she was 5 years old she was not living in Comanche County.
I miss her and wish I could share with her the amazing things I have found out about her family.
I could not find my grandmother (Gladys Mamie Sample) on the 1920 census. She told me that she moved to Comanche County, OK when she was one year old and she lived there until she married my grandfather. I had even searched the census microfilm for Comanche County page by page looking for her at one point.
But things have changed. You can do searches with ancestry that cannot be done otherwise. The search box on the 1920 census (and all of the other census years) allows you to search by first names without the last names. This was important in this case because my great grandmother had been married at least 4 times and I wasn't sure that I had all of her married names. My grandmother was about 5 years old in 1920, so I put her first name and age 5 with a +/- 2 years and her mother's first name, Sarah in the appropriate search boxes, then I limited it to Oklahoma. The search did not bring me anyone that seemed right. Sarah's name was Sarah Violet and a few records had her name as Violet so I tried the same search with Violet as the mother's name.
EUREKA! That search brought back Gladys M Ivey, age 5 with a mother, Violet Ivey, and father, James W. Ivey. I knew that my Grandmother considered James Ivey, her only father, even though he and her mother divorced. Why didn't I find them before? I didn't know when I first did this search when Sarah Violet was married to Ivey and they were not in Comanche County. They were in Cotton County, OK. My Grandmother didn't know that when she was 5 years old she was not living in Comanche County.
I miss her and wish I could share with her the amazing things I have found out about her family.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
A new mystery
I started looking for census records for Martha Paralee McCarley White. There was no one in Fisher county, Montague, Cooke County, TX or Carter County, OK that is an ideal match for Martha Paralee White. First I checked the census records on HeritageQuest and then on Ancestry.com for 1920, 1910, and 1900. Here is the mystery.
1900 Census - Collingsworth County, TX
White, Martha head of household, age 48 bn April 1852 widowed born in MS parents born in TN
Bickley, Mamie B. daughter, age 9, bn Oct 1890 single, bn TX Father bn LA mother bn MS
This Martha White matches in every way. Parents born in right state, right age, but she has a daughter with a different last name. She is just in a county where I haven’t found any other family member. Why would she be there? If this is the correct person then between 1890 and 1900, her husband, Bickley either died or was otherwise out of the picture and she remarried White, then he died. I wonder if it was Bickley or White who was shot in the story.
Plus: Martha Paralee McCarley had a brother named, Sims Allen McCarley who married Martha Ellen Bickley. Is Martha Ellen Bickley kin to Martha Paralee’s first husband? It wasn’t unusual to have more than one sibling marry two other siblings.
1900 Census - Collingsworth County, TX
White, Martha head of household, age 48 bn April 1852 widowed born in MS parents born in TN
Bickley, Mamie B. daughter, age 9, bn Oct 1890 single, bn TX Father bn LA mother bn MS
This Martha White matches in every way. Parents born in right state, right age, but she has a daughter with a different last name. She is just in a county where I haven’t found any other family member. Why would she be there? If this is the correct person then between 1890 and 1900, her husband, Bickley either died or was otherwise out of the picture and she remarried White, then he died. I wonder if it was Bickley or White who was shot in the story.
Plus: Martha Paralee McCarley had a brother named, Sims Allen McCarley who married Martha Ellen Bickley. Is Martha Ellen Bickley kin to Martha Paralee’s first husband? It wasn’t unusual to have more than one sibling marry two other siblings.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Martha Paralee McCarley
Back in the 70s, when I was beginning my genealogy searches, I was in contact with Katherine B. Walters from Tyler, TX. Katherine helped me get started and told me several family stories. I believe she is the first one to tell me Paralee's story, although I have heard it from others since then with varying details. Katherine has passed away, but I have heard from other McCarley researchers that she helped them with their research too. I think she would be delighted at how many of Charles M. McCarley descendants are active genealogists.
As promised in an earlier post,here is Paralee's story:
Paralee married a Mr. White. One day he had a boundary dispute with a neighbor near Nocona, TX. After the argument, he went to the house for lunch. As was usual in those days, he was resting on the porch after lunch when the neighbor rode up on a horse. Without a word, the neighbor shot him. Paralee went into the house to get a gun. As she returned, the neighbor scooped up their young daughter and put her behind him on the horse as he rode away. Paralee could only watch as he rode away with her daughter. After he rode out of shotgun range, he put the child down and rode off.
As promised in an earlier post,here is Paralee's story:
Paralee married a Mr. White. One day he had a boundary dispute with a neighbor near Nocona, TX. After the argument, he went to the house for lunch. As was usual in those days, he was resting on the porch after lunch when the neighbor rode up on a horse. Without a word, the neighbor shot him. Paralee went into the house to get a gun. As she returned, the neighbor scooped up their young daughter and put her behind him on the horse as he rode away. Paralee could only watch as he rode away with her daughter. After he rode out of shotgun range, he put the child down and rode off.
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